10 Benefits of Music on Mental, Heart and Brain Health, Immunity, Pregnancy & More

Reviewed By: Pramod Kerkar, MD, FFARCSI

Health is wealth. To enhance your health, you need music.

Music being regarded as medicine is the fact that needs not to be disputed as it helps the cognitive, physical and psychological aspect of our lives. But since it's not like a regular pill which you can just swallow in your mouth to control or correct some ailments and health issues, you might want to dispute the fact. Sure, music can affect our mood and change the way we feel.

But the golden question is: Does it really have some health benefits?

Of course, it does. Listening to songs has a unique way of improving our health. There are various reactions music can evoke in us. Some songs make us laugh, cry, heal, reduces your anxiety, help you get the best sleep to name a few. And in this article, we shall be discussing the health benefits of music.

10 Benefits of Music on Mental, Heart and Brain Health, Immunity, Pregnancy & More

Music Decreases Depression and Anxiety

Researchers have shown that listening to music physiologically reliefs stress and can also reduce symptoms of depression. Studies from the United States have proved that listening to a certain genre of music can reduce 65% of people’s level of anxiety.

Stress causes about 60% of our health issues such as illness and diseases. Listening to music has shown by studies helps our body decreases the stress level hormones (cortisol). And when the stress hormones reduce, it cancels the effect of chronic stress in one's body.

It Improves Memory

Listening to music helps you to acknowledge and recall information faster and better. Some research has proved the fact that music helps you to recall information faster carried out on patients with Alzheimer’s, in this research, it was discovered that listening to old and expressive music helped the patients to recall vital things that happened to them at some certain stages of their life.

Listening to music helps in drawing neurological patterns and old memories due to the rhythm, lyrics and the sounds that might linger in the mind for an elongated period of time.

Music Enhances Happiness

Music helps your emotions. Most times the way we feel has a lot to say about the state of our health. Music can exhibit a lot of reactions. It can make us cry, happy, exalted, and excited or have Goosebumps. Music strikes and communicates directly with our minds in a special way. In fact, the brain releases a feel-good chemical whenever we listen to songs we enjoy, which then causes us to feel and release emotions such as joy, excitement, happiness to name few.

Listening to music can be a very pleasurable experience.

Studies have shown that listening to music with high tempo tends to make us happy while music with very slow tempo has the likelihood of making us feel sad. A happy person inclines to be healthy.

Music Affects Our Pulse, Heartbeat, and Blood Pressure In A Good Way

Studies have shown that music assists patients recovering from heart diseases. This is because it helped to strengthen the heart and improve the recovery time of these patients. Without taking into account the type of music you are listening to, your brain is programmed to release endorphins each time you listen to the song you like. This endorphin released by the brain will help to improve your vascular health.

Patients who listened to music after cardiac surgery has confirmed that they feel less anxious or less pain as opposed to the patients that went to takes a rest after the surgery.

At Massachusetts General Hospital, it has been observed that patients with heart issues who are confined to their beds and made to listen to music for 30 minutes had reduced blood pressure, slower heartbeat and less discomfort as opposed to patients who weren't.

Music Boosts Your Immune System and Reduces Your Pain

Music can reduce the rate of stress hormones cortisol. A high level of cortisol in the body will only result in weakening of the immune system, increased risk of heart disease, interference with learning and memory, lower bone density, blood pressure, to name a few. With the help of music, you can avoid these effects. This is because the moment you listen to the song you enjoy, your cortisol rate decreases and when this stress hormone decreases your immune system gets boosted.

It had been discovered that mere listening to the songs you love for just 50 minutes is enough to increase the antibiotics in your body system. Studies have also shown that music has helped patients with intensive care to feel less pain, although it is advisable to use music that is either meditative, classical or the patient preferred music.

It Helps to Improve the Quality of Sleep

Music can make you sleep better. According to certain research, students who listened to cool and relaxing music 45 minutes before they went off to sleep had better sleep quality compared to their counterpart who either went to bed without listening to music by any music device.

It’s a known fact that stress and anxiety are one of the factors that stop us from getting a sound sleep. With music, stress and anxiety are alleviated. Research has proved that listening to music constantly and at various times enhance better sleep patterns and relaxing sleep moods. Music has been adopted by many people around the globe to treat insomnia.

It Keeps The Brain Healthy

Research has shown that people who have musical training, listen to, or play music during old age have a healthier brain because doing this at old age helps to keep the brain healthy as it ages.

Apart from dancing while listening to music, the music itself is an exercise on its own and doing this at old age will serve as a way of exercising the brain. And as we all know, a person who exercises the brain will be mentally sharp and have a good memory.

Music Improves A Child Visual and Verbal Skill

Numerous researches has shown that children exposed to music at a very tender age have improved verbal, visual and communication skills since their brains are stimulated in some ways when music is on. These children had greater ability to smile, communicate, understand words and explain the meaning of those words because of their highly sophisticated brain.

It Enhances Recovery After Workouts

Not only does music increase your level of endurance during a workout, but it also helps you to recover faster and better after working out. You don't have to listen to a certain type of music to get this effect all you need do is to listen to a song you enjoy to get the recovery you crave.

Music Helps Expectant Mothers and Their Babies

Studies have shown that babies made to listen to music while in the womb have a positive reaction to music when they are born. The result of this studies did not come as a surprise because music has proved to aid positive neonatal attitude.

Increase in weight and feeding rate, reduced heart rate and quality sleep are some of the positive impacts of music on the expectant mother which directly has a positive effect on the unborn child or children.

Conclusion

Music is beneficial to humans in a thousand ways, directly or indirectly and this article has clearly pointed out some of the benefits. Hope you had a good read? Trust you will now improve your consumption of music and who knows your friends might also take your lead.

I'm Alex Frank who has worked sound technology industry for 10 years now. Today,I am an affiliate blogger who likes to educate my audience more about sound technology. Visit https://www.musicinstrumentscenter.com to find all information about music that you need.